Photo: east news

In a survey commissioned by the Rzeczpospolita daily, 77 percent of respondents were pleased about the relocation of the Smolensk cross to the Presidential Palace, a fait accompli as the cross was moved in the early hours of Thursday morning.

The poll also states that even though so many people were in favour of the cross’s removal, 42 percent of respondents were against the way in which it was done.

The survey posed a number of possibilities about where the cross should now be located. By far the most popular was to place it St. Anne’s church, close to the Presidential Palace, with 72 percent of respondents giving that answer, with 67 percent believing the best option would be taking it to Warsaw’s Powazki cemetery, where a memorial to the victims of the Smolensk air disaster is to be erected.

60 percent of respondents were for the proposal that the cross be taken by the victims’ families to the crash site by Smolensk Severny airport. Only 15 percent of respondents declared a wish for the cross to return outside the Presidential Palace.

The survey, which was undertaken by GfK Polonia, polled a sample of 500 people following the cross’s removal on Thursday. (jb)